U.S. companies can now use social media sites to disclose
corporate information. The regulation change followed an
investigation into a Facebook post by the chief executive of
Netflix.

Chief executives can now feel free to post, blog or tweet -- as
long as they inform investors about their social media strategies
first.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission outlined new
disclosure rules Tuesday that clarify how companies can use
Facebook, Twitter and other social networks to disseminate
information, provided they meet certain requirements. Still, the new
rules may reduce spontaneity because companies may limit their
communications to official corporate accounts and file the
information with the agency at the same time.

With the decision, the S.E.C is playing catch-up to the new era
of social media.

In December, the regulator warned Netflix that it could take
action against the company for a 43-word message that the company's
chief executive, Reed Hastings, posted in his personal Facebook
feed. In the note, Mr. Hastings congratulated his team for exceeding
one billion hours of video watched in a single month.

The agency raised concerns that the post violated Regulation Fair
Disclosure, commonly known as Reg FD, which requires a company to
publish material information to all investors at the same time.
While Mr. Hastings's announcement was made on his publicly available
Facebook page, which had more than 200,000 followers, the
information was not subsequently disclosed in a securities filing or
news release.

At the time, Mr. Hastings and Netflix said that his message was
both immaterial and readily available to investors, having been
picked up by a number of blogs and news media outlets. "We use
blogging and social media, including Facebook, to communicate
effectively with the public and our members," Mr. Hastings wrote --
on his Facebook page, naturally -- after disclosing the
investigation last year.

Now, the S.E.C. seems to be relaxing its stance. After an
investigation of several months, regulators said that companies
could treat social media as legitimate outlets for communication,
much like corporate Web sites or the agency's own public filing
system called Edgar. The catch is that corporations have to make it
clear which Twitter feeds or Facebook pages will serve as potential
outlets for announcements. …

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